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"Y'know, I thought it was a really weird theme for a birthday party at first. But now I'm kinda diggin' it.""No, yeah, I thought the same thing, but actually I think the makeup looks really good.""C'mere, you got a little-""Oh, do I?""Yeah, just right... okay, yeah, you're good.""Would you stop fidgeting?""I'm trying my best!""Well, try harder."The five of you were currently parked at the end of the Emersons' driveway, putting the finishing touches on your makeup. Sam's birthday had recently passed, and while you'd all gone out to eat that night to celebrate, he'd been excited about the idea of a costume party for his birthday, and you were all more than happy to humor him. Really, you'd take any excuse to dress up and get tipsy while you beat Grandpa Emerson at Sorry!The theme was a little odd though.You'd been surprised at first when you'd stopped by the video store to ask Lucy - Max hadn't been in yet, he'd had to run an errand for Thorn so he was behind his usual schedule - and talked to her about it.
"Oh, I can't remember the darn name. It was some man or other..." Lucy mused, her eyebrows furrowed as she checked out a customer at the front desk, you and Marko lounging around the counter while the other three wandered the store. You shared a wry grin, waiting while she handed the person their receipt and turned to you both.
"Gonna need a little bit more than 'some man or other' unfortunately," you joked, and she laughed at that, exasperated as it was.
"I can never remember, it's always something with him. It's some space thing... Star something? Starman maybe? No, yes, that's it I think. Starman is what he said." You and Marko shared a surprised look. Starman was certainly not what you had been expecting.
"Starman? You're sure?" Marko asked, mildly puzzled. But Lucy nodded confidently, continuing the conversation while she turned to help another customer rent a tape.
"I'm pretty sure," she responded, her voice firm now.
You and Marko looked at each other, sharing an appraising look.
To be fair, Sam had been on a David Bowie kick lately; it was all he ever played when you were over. You were sure you'd heard Starman alone at least ten times when you'd hung out the weekend prior, let alone Space Oddity. So while it struck you as ironically and appropriately odd, you just shrugged and went with it.And that was how the five of you had ended up sitting on your bikes at the end of the Emersons' drive, touching up your Ziggy Stardust makeup before you went in.All of you were decked out in appropriately sparkling and glimmering outfits (though honestly, it was mostly your usual getups, just with more bling). Marko had a leg up on all of you with his brightly colored jacket, complete with shimmering tassels, but the rest of you had given it your best shot. You were bejeweled and glittered to the nines, everyone's hair done up even more dramatically than usual, and the makeup was gorgeous. No one had been willing to dye their hair red for the outfits, but Paul had used some temporary pigment to get close - of course after testing first that it would, in fact, come out. The teasing and hairspray was hard enough on his hair, he was not keen on the idea of adding bleach to the mix.Dwayne and Paul had opted for the signature red and blue lightning bolt across their faces, going for the slightly heavier, almost rocker look. It looked shockingly good on them as you'd teased, grinning widely while Paul cackled and Dwayne groaned in disgust, unbelievably pleased with yourself, let alone their reactions. Admittedly it was low hanging fruit, but you were practically morally obligated to make the joke. And after spending so long very carefully painting the designs on - with David and Marko's help, naturally - the least they could put up with is a pun or two.David and Marko had opted instead for the other trademark Ziggy Stardust look, leaning heavily into the alien aesthetic with heavy red-orange contour and a metallic golden orb on their foreheads. You'd helped with these as well, though with Marko largely taking the helm for David's, and Dwayne taking over Marko's. It had actually come out really well in your opinion - the dark lower liner really made their eyes pop, and their faces were well suited for the more eccentric, avant-garde look. Marko had opted for red orange lips to match the contour - which also matched his jacket delightfully - whereas David went full gold metallic, highlighting his already off kilter and slightly unsettling appearance with such strikingly pale hair and eyes.Marko had been the one to do your makeup (with some help from Paul), and all of you had helped glitter one another up, though David had insisted you do that outside of the cave. 'We already have enough glitter in here, we don't need more.' (Privately you agreed with him, though you were well aware it was a losing battle.) And anyways, you lived in a cave. Glitter was the least of your problems."Alright, are we good?" Everyone glanced over each other's makeup, double checking that it hadn't smeared on the ride over, ensuring that you were adequately covered in plenty of shimmer spray and glitter, and that none of your sparkly accessories had shifted or been knocked askew. You weren't sure whether your group looked more like you belonged in the 70s or the 80s, though Marko and Paul had assured you earlier with much satisfied laughter that it was a perfect mix of both."Good enough! Let's get moving!" Paul was on his feet now, already bouncing impatiently while he waited for you all to head up to the house."Alright, alright, we're going," Dwayne laughed, mussing up Paul's hair and eliciting much indignant protest, but all of you did, to your credit, head up towards the house.You'd already given Sam his presents at his birthday dinner, so it was just yourselves you had to worry about bringing now. The pack had offered to bring food, but Lucy still didn't trust that you could manage food on the bikes without dropping it, so you'd shrugged and let them handle it. You'd all done it enough times to prove otherwise, and she was well aware, but she still protested. You guessed it was just a mom thing.All of you were shoving each other and laughing and chatting as you always did, waiting for someone to let you into the house. Normally you'd just let yourselves in, but apparently the last arrival had locked the door out of habit. But when the door finally swung open, all of you paused, blinking in confusion. The person in the doorway blinked at the five of you in return, equally confused.The person who had answered the door was... Han Solo?Everyone stood in complete silence for a few moments. You, wondering if you had the wrong party, and Han Solo probably wondering the same."So you guys got the wrong memo too, huh?"You stared blankly at Han Solo."Mikey? Is that you?" Paul was laughing again now, and you could visibly see him resist the urge to play with his hair or rub his face, not wanting to mess up his costume. Mike sighed as he dragged a hand over his own face, obviously lacking the same issue."No Paul, it's Han Solo," Marko joked, and Michael glared at him."You guys said the theme was Star Wars.""What?""Excuse me?""We did no such thing!""Yes, you did.""Where did you get Star Wa-"Everyone paused for a moment.Oh.You realized what must have happened.You'd gotten a call from Michael when you were hanging out at Max's house the other night. Sam had supposedly been out with the Frog brothers, doing god knew what - probably minding the comic store if you'd had to guess, or maybe roaming the boardwalk. Max had been at the video store with Lucy, so you'd had his house to yourself (which was truthfully why you were there). The pack had been lazing around watching TV, you and Paul baking muffins while Marko and Dwayne worked on some little sparkly accessories for your Ziggy Stardust costumes, David stretched out on the couch nearby. It was relatively last minute, all things considered, but the two of them worked quick. Paul had been the one to pick up the phone when it rang, but he'd been sitting on the counter next to you, so you could faintly hear the voice on the other end of the line."Brady residence." You snorted at that, carefully scooping batter into the muffin tin while Paul grinned cheekily at you.
"Paul!"
"Mike! What's up, man?"
"Did you guys catch what the theme for Sam's party is?" Michael sounded distant, a little bit rushed.
"Yeah, your mom told us. Why?"
There was a pause.
"You forgot, didn't you?"
"No, no, we didn't forge-"
"You totally forgot what the theme is for your brother's party!" Paul started cackling, and you could hear Michael's frustration even secondhand.
"Paul! Shut up! Just tell me the theme!" His voice sounded fuzzier, and you frowned at the phone in Paul's hand.
"What do I get if I tell you?" Paul reacted how anyone could've expected, already planning to milk this for all it was worth.
"Paul please, we're out shopping for costumes and we don't-" You heard noise on the other end then, something crackling in the phone speaker. Paul seemed unbothered, aside from holding the phone a little further away from his face. You figured maybe it was just ambient noise from wherever they were calling from, assuming he was out shopping with Star, and probably Laddie. If they were down on the boardwalk, it would make sense. The shops down there were always crowded as hell.
"Alright, alright, calm your tits. The theme is Starman, I dunno what-"
"Star-?" The phone crackled again, and Paul jumped this time, ever so slightly. You looked up from your pan, eyebrows furrowed questioningly, but Paul just lightly waved you off, listening for a response.
"Hey man, you hearin' me?"
"Yeah, yeah, just this phone. I owe you one, thanks!" Mike sounded increasingly distracted, before abruptly hanging up and leaving you and Paul puzzled, staring at the phone in his hand.
"Huh."
"No kiddin'. I guess they're down at the boardwalk."
"Yeah, sounds like it. Hey, do you think he...?"
"Nah, I'm sure it's fine." Paul hung up the phone, brushing the call aside to peer into the bowl of batter instead, and you smacked his hand away when he promptly went to swipe some from the side of the bowl. "Hey!"
"Hey, yourself. Get a spoon if you want a taste," you teased, narrowing your eyes playfully at him.
And that had been that.Hell, you'd forgotten that call completely. But now, staring at a very put out Michael wearing an improvised Han Solo costume in the doorway before you, it seemed like maybe there'd been a tiny bit of confusion.You suddenly remembered what he'd first said upon opening the door.Uh oh.You cleared your throat, breaking the silence as realization dawned on all of you."So, uh... Mike? What was that you said about getting the wrong memo?"All of you were silent for another moment.Michael just laughed."Why don't you come in?""Oh, this is gonna be good." Paul shook his head with a wry grin, heading into the house as Michael stepped aside to let you in. The rest of you exchanged looks, ranging from sheepish grins to deeply unamused, as you followed him in."Oh good, they're he- oh!" Lucy paused as she turned to see you all filing in. You all stopped in the middle of the living room. "Oh. Oh dear."This was going to be an interesting night."Kids, I think- I think I might've mixed up the names, just a little bit.""You think?"Everyone else was already here, and your pack were the last ones to file in. The doors to the kitchen had been propped open, and the whole family was milling around the downstairs, complete with the Frog brothers.Unfortunately, it seemed there had been a bit more confusion on the theme than you'd even realized.Off to the right, Star and Laddie were sitting at the dining room table, munching very carefully on pizza in their improvised, entirely white Luke and Leia costumes. Star was wearing one of her white blouses, matched with one of her long swirling skirts, and Laddie had on a loose white shirt and pants. Star's hair had been neatly tied up into Leia's two cinnamon-roll-esque buns, and you could even see a little prop lightsaber on Laddie's belt.Across the table were Sam and the Frog Brothers, who at first seemed to be wearing... normal clothing? All three wore white button up shirts, though Alan also had on an olive green denim jacket, and Edgar was wearing a similar brown jacket. Both had on ties, a notepad and pen lying on the table beside Edgar's plate, and Alan was carrying Sam's camera on a shoulder strap. You blinked in confusion, trying to figure out who they could possibly be dressed as. It wasn't until you looked a little closer and noticed that Sam's button up was slightly undone, a large red and yellow S peeking out from the blue garment underneath, and you laughed.Of course.Some man or other.Some space thing.Super man.The theme had been Superman.Your guest of honor was obviously Clark Kent himself, and his two partners in crime were, you suspected, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.This made much more sense now.What you didn't understand was why Lucy Emerson, standing sheepishly in front of you, was wearing a full black and blue jumpsuit, topped with a blue lab coat. Didn't understand, that was, until she shifted on her feet, and the small triangular badge on her left side caught the light.Ah.But why-?"Are you- what the hell happened?" Sam interrupted, voice rising in pitch as he incredulously demanded answers. All five of you burst out laughing, catching the pure, intensifying indignance on his face while he stared at the lot of you in your David Bowie inspired makeup."Your mom said the theme was Starman, bud," Paul managed to wheeze out, and Sam's jaw dropped as his gaze shifted to stare in disbelief at the back of his mother's head. Lucy looked exasperated, having been mercilessly thrown under the bus, but there was little to be done about it now."So... wait, how- why?" Marko could barely get words out between giggles, but the five of you were slowly starting to simmer down. You all turned to see Max appear from the kitchen, wearing a similar uniform to Lucy's, but in the color red instead of blue. Of course."So wait, if you told us the theme was Starman, then why...?" You couldn't understand how a simple Superman theme - or perhaps even comic theme in general - had spiraled so far out of control."Well, we'd been so busy with the store, and I couldn't remember what the theme was so I asked Michael, and he said... what was it again?" Lucy seemed a bit ruffled."Star Wars," Michael replied flatly as he settled back down at the table, appearing somewhere between amused and exhausted."Right! Star Wars, but I thought he meant Star Trek. So..." She gestured to their outfits with a soft chuckle.You peered around Max to see Gramps and Jeanie in the kitchen - currently setting up a board game - who were also wearing Star Trek uniforms, though theirs were a little bit differently styled. Gramps was wearing a golden shirt that bordered on lemon yellow, and Jeanie's outfit was a lighter blue than Lucy's, but the lower half was composed of a miniskirt and tights rather than slacks. Their badges also looked to be shaped a little differently, and you stifled a laugh. It seemed the Star Trek message had gotten across just fine, but naturally the old timers had opted for uniforms inspired by the original Star Trek, rather than the new Next Generation series you'd all been keeping up with (whenever you had access to a television, anyways). You shook your head in disbelief."Talk about a game of telephone," you chuckled. "No kidding." David smirked.Everyone started to settle in after that. Lucy and Max drifted back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, Gramps and Jeanie still setting up the board games in the kitchen while the kids all ate in the dining room. The pack breezily filled in at the table, Dwayne clapping Sam on the shoulder with a wry grin as he made his way around to the other side."Sorry 'bout that," he mused, dropping into a seat and snagging a piece of pizza."I don't know what I was expecting," Sam mumbled around a mouthful of chips, obviously resigned to his fate. To be fair, you were the last ones to arrive, and he had probably already been expecting that you wouldn't be any better than the rest. Though you doubted he'd been expecting... this."I can't believe your mom disrupted the chain at the very beginning and it circled all the way back around to bite her again at the end," Paul joked, and Michael snorted."Star Wars. I can't believe this.""Unbelievable."Sam and Michael grumbled at the same time, and the rest of you promptly dissolved into chaotic laughter once more."No, but really. You'd think at least Mikey would've figured out something was wrong," Marko teased, and Michael glared at him across the table, but you could very faintly see his ears beginning to turn pink."It's Paul's fault-""How is it my fault that you were calling to ask about the theme while you were buying costumes?" Paul protested indignantly, pointing accusingly across the table at Mike. "Maybe next time plan ahead better!""Maybe next time speak clearer!""It was the shitty boardwalk phone that was cutting out!""And it's me who will be cutting off your hand if you don't get it out of my face," David interjected smoothly, not even looking up from his drink as he took a hefty swig. You could see Paul fighting the urge to knock said hand into David's drink as he retracted his arm, but impressively enough, he managed it."That must have been hard, I'm very proud of you," you joked, dipping briefly into your telepathic bond."It was, thank you very much," Paul replied, and you shared a knowing grin behind David's head. You knew he was well aware, just pointedly ignoring the both of you. Probably for the best."You know," Star chimed in, "I actually think all the different costumes is kind of fun. We look really interesting together.""Interesting is certainly a word for it," Dwayne smirked."You wanna have a costume party for your birthday too, Laddie?" Marko joked, and to no one's surprise, Laddie grinned widely at the idea."Hell yeah!" He shouted. All of you promptly burst out laughing, you and Paul choking on your drinks while David just smirked, as smug as you'd ever seen him. Maybe the parents had a point about the pack being bad influences, after all. Luckily they seemed to be distracted enough in the kitchen to not catch that, or were purposefully pretending not to have heard, because none of them came to admonish you."Alright, but you have to come up with at least five different themes," Alan informed him with a wicked grin when the laughter had finally died down again. Laddie seemed to pause, thinking hard about it for a moment."Do they all have to be related?" All of you exchanged looks, considering it."I mean, these technically aren't related either," Edgar mused."Hardly," Sam mumbled, and Dwayne snorted under his breath."You pick whatever themes you want, champ, we gotcha." Paul stood up to reach over and ruffle Laddie's hair, and he practically beamed in response."You've just unlocked Pandora's Box of hell for all of us." David's voice came through incredibly disgruntled in the pack's collective headspace, but the rest of you just laughed."Ah, let the kid live a little," you teased back.After all, there were far worse things that could come from a little misunderstanding.